Over the last weeks, many onion fields in all of the Federal Republic have suffered from continued drought. Dipl. Ing. agr. Andrea Scheinder of Fachverband Deutsche Speisezwiebel e.V explains the current situation: “So far there has been far too little rain. Furthermore, the spring was marked by low temperatures and now the continuing drought comes on top of that in many regions. The result of this is, that we will generate less yield during this campaign.”
“Even producers who can artificially irrigate their fields are struggling with the weather,” the expert explains. It is like a small droplet on a hot stone. “The artificial irrigation is only a life-sustaining measure, which however does nothing to contribute to generating a yield increase,” Scheinder elaborates further.
Barely below average yields
The CEO of the German Zwiebelfachverband is counting on slightly below average yields across Germany. “Not only is the quantity of onions turning out less this year, but also the size and the calibre. In part, these leave something to be desired,” Andrea Schneider explains. “This tendency is clearly caused by the weather.” A positive side-effect of the drought would be, that the onion stocks are currently looking extremely healthy, thus the expert. Because of the drought, fungal diseases are not an issue during this campaign.
The price spiral shows positive tendencies
Regarding the demand of the consumers, the Fachverband is registering a slight increase. Andrea Schneider describes the situation: “over the past few weeks, demand on the market was a bit calmer. But now the market seems to be slightly drawing upward again.” She furthermore thinks that such a scarcity should not have to affect the market and the prices negatively. “The reduced quantities on the market have slowed down the downward spiral of the prices of the last few weeks a bit. Now, small tendencies in the other direction can even be recognized. Where this journey will truly take us will show in the coming weeks,” says the expert.
